Chapter 8

"About time you two finished your..your…courting!" Gimli grunted the last word, obviously embarrassed to have heard them. The evidence was the red in his barely visible cheeks and the fact he wouldn't meet Jiel's eyes.

Jieleneril stopped short as Legolas crossed his arms giving Gimli a smirk of pure masculine satisfaction, "Gimli, we should be going. Are we going to have to wait for you to compose yourself?" Jiel's red face eased into a smile at the banter that she knew was to ensue, her embarrassment forgotten.

The dwarf passed the two elves up the trail to continue their trek, "ME?! You two were the ones who were making me wait! Look, I'm already ahead of you!" He said with wide eyed exasperation and motioned to the snow covered path.

Jiel giggled and waited for the two to take the lead to wherever this Mandos was. "So what is Mandos like?" She was curious how it would compare to what she had seen of rivendale.

"Mandos is the vala that keeps the Hall of the Dead," the prince started as he slowed his pace to walk beside her and let Gimli lead the trek. "There, he controls how long an edhel stays in the hall until they can join into Valinor."

"So then he is like a judge and jailer?" Her Aqua gaze met his blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dim light from the overcast weather.

"Yes, the area that surrounds the hall is his area of influence and is known as Mandos. The main city in the area is simply Othrond -o Mandos or City of Mandos. It is where edhil can await their loved ones. They also gather in thanks or celebration of Mandos himself."

"And what is a vala?" She assumed all of this was covered in the books, but she had never thought to read them. The movies were more of her thing, being able to ogle Legolas and even his father. Okay, she was submissive and liked how intimidating his dad was, but not the guy himself.

Legolas is definitely more of my type. He could be dominating. I definitely want to find out.

Legolas gave her a look of surprise, she assumed it was at her ignorance, "Our world is called Arda. There is Middle Earth and Valinor, the undying lands. You are in Valinor, home of the edhil and presided over by the Valar. The one creator Eru created Arda, valar, and edhil."

Jiel was surprised, she never thought of the fact that this world had all of this lore.

"We dwarves were made by Mahal, the smartest Vala. He created the sturdiest and strongest race !" A gruff voice contributed from up front with a fist in the air.

The prince's face pinched into an offended face then his eyes cut the her and he grinned at Jiel, "Jieleneril, what sayings do you have to describe ugly people where you're from?"

Gimli's head whipped around so fast the small braids hit his face, his mouth agape and a look saying 'oh don't you dare' looked back at them. Feeling the camaraderie in the air she smiled innocently, "Oh, we have quite a few!"

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

They continued walking through the day, the conversation died down after the third bout of playful banter. Once the sun was close to the top of the tree line Gimli mentioned the encroaching darkness. Although Legolas could see in the dark easily and could travel in his sleep he knew Gimli would only slow down due to his lack of sight.

Jieleneril was showing signs of fatigue, she had stumbled when her foot dropped into an obvious rodent hole. He theorized it was since her body was newly transformed and it hadn't restored all the energy used for the process. Her eyes were probably aching for the same reason which was why she kept rubbing them. Not to mention he wasn't sure how much magic her healing used, she could very much be more exhausted than she let on.

She has quieted more and more as our journey has progressed. I see no other option.

Gently grasping the she-elf's elbow the prince halted his steps followed by the woman in front of him. After a few silent seconds so did Gimli and they both met blue eyes. Legolas nodded toward the setting sun, "It will be dark soon, in this weather it would be wise to seek tonight's shelter."

He then turned to Jieleneril, "Although it takes a considerable amount of cold, it can still make us perish. Besides, I have noticed your fatigue even though you tried to hide it." He had a gentle yet sly smile.

A blush grew over her pale skin and made her cheeks glow. Legolas wanted to stroke the warmth he knew he would find there with his thumb but knew if they waited any longer the dark would cover them before shelter could.

"Oh! You're tired, lass?? You should have said something! I wouldn't mind taking a rest for you!" Gimli walked to her, taking her small hand in his and patted the back.

The dwarf was rewarded with a gentle smile, "Thank you Gimli, I didn't mean to hold us back. I guess I've just been so focused on getting there that I didn't realize how exhausted I am."

Silently the prince cursed. He should have noticed earlier. He supposed he too was overly focused on arriving as early as possible to Mandos. He could now see minute dark circles under her eyes, her arms crossing more often in an effort to keep warm. Yes, she was still adjusting and he needed to be sure she didn't push herself too far now that he knew she was the kind of person to push past her limits quietly.

He felt a sudden need to embrace her, to share his warmth, but he also wanted to provide her shelter. Give her what she needed. He wanted her to need him more than just to provide. But that would take time.

Legolas settled for reaching around and resting his hand on the crown of her head with his arm around her shoulders. He brought his lips a hair widths away from her forehead and allowed his breath to warm her, "Wait here for me." It was short but he heard her heart pick up and she smiled.

Releasing her gently but swiftly the elf turned to his friend, "Would you watch over her if I scout for lodging?"

The dwarf's face scrunch disgruntled, "I could scout just fine!" His short yet burly arms crossed in front of him.

Legolas looked playfully at the shorter male, "Oh? Then perhaps while you're taking all night to do that Jieleneril and I could practice our 'courting'."

Gimli was about to argue, but it died when he remembered how their day began. "Aye, you'd better go scout." His eyes slightly narrowed behind his facial hair and he stepped distinctly between the two blondes.

The prince looked from Gimli to his new infatuation. Teal eyes were wide with embarrassment and her face reddened more than before. More sure now that she was a virgin his mind raced with how her face will look experiencing everything for the first time with him. Earlier she didn't seem shy yet these remarks made her blush.

She's most likely done that before, but I will be the only one she will remember by the end of our journey.

His thoughts seemed to growl and he cut his eyes possessively to the honey blonde. When her eyes met his he heard a gasp and her eyes hooded, her teeth finding purchase on her bottom lip. Heat seared down his chest to his groin and he knew if he didn't go now he'd have to tell his friend to occupy himself far away.

Legolas quickly shook his head and looked to a tall, thick tree just off to the side of the path. He quickly distracted himself with the effortless climb and scouted over the tree tops with his sharp eyes for any cover.

While his eyes searched his mind, barely a whisper, wondered why he had such strong urges and why he had an even harder time resisting them.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

Jiel's mind was racing with memories from their morning and imaginings of when they arrived at Othrond -o Mandos. Her feet shifted as she watched the prince climb, his muscles beneath his silver tunic making her rub her thighs together.

Gingerly she shook her head and pulled her eyes from Legolas' lithe frame. The she-elf could watch him swing and leap up the branches of the large dark tree for days.

Hesitantly Jiel looked to her companion, "um, Gimli?" The dwarf turned to her, the air fogging with his grunt of acknowledgment.

"What kind of place is this? I remember Middle Earth had so many beasts and dangers so I was wondering what kind of place this may be?" Her brows were drawn together with worry while her hands were on her elbows trying to shield herself from the cold and her fear.

Without Legolas distracting her from her thoughts the movies were running through her mind; the shrieking of the Nazgûl, the poisoned arrows of orcs, the eat-anything Uruk-hai, the overwhelming number of goblins, Shelob, and of course Sauron. The darkness had such formidable foes she wasn't sure she could make it in such a place.

Royalty I could deal with, fighting in school I could manage, but fighting for my life??

Her anxiety grew until her thoughts felt like a busy interstate in her head. Taking a deep breath Jiel focused her mind. Okay, so she was scared of H.P. Lovecraft level creatures and elves who wanted to assassinate her. No sweat, she just needed to become a bad ass!

A deep rumble startled her thoughts, "I can hear the gears turning in your pretty little head. Spit it out, lass."

Gimli's rough but gentle voice wheedled her to share her worries, "Gimli, I don't want to be a burden. I never trained to fight or even how to survive in the wilderness. I feel as helpless as a child. I almost got Legolas killed back there!"

Her volume raised in worry at what could have been. Jieleneril revealed not just to Gimli but to herself how much she worried about them and how dangerous her situation was. Yes her world wasn't safe but she didn't have assassins attempting to give her the perma sleep.

A reassuring smile lifted the hair of Gimli's beard as he eyes softened. Jiel felt like a small girl again, her Papa Bill telling her everything was going to be okay after her parents locked her in a closet for hours.

She had been punished for messing up her ballet lesson again. Being more of a tomboy the graceful act wasn't her forte. She wanted something more adventurous and with more action. But aristocracy "didn't do such boorish activities". She had gotten lucky when they settled for softball instead of a contact sport.

Jieleneril's grandparents had came to see her, but when Granny couldn't find her she unleashed hell on her parents and Papa Bill had gone through room to room to find the one door that was locked. They were only able to get the key when Granny had threatened their inheritance and Papa opened the door to find the small 4 year old still in her ballet outfit, crying in the corner next to a bucket of cleaning supplies.

He had hidden the rage behind warm and kind eyes, holding a wrinkled hand out to coax the timid girl from her corner. "It's okay, Firefly. Papa won't let them hurt you again."

A small cold hand reached for his and he took off his coat as she timidly stepped from the closet and draped it around her frail shoulders. Papa Jay then lifted her and walked focused steps toward the front door where his wife was still berating their daughter-in-law and son.

"Ruth." He called out to her and when she met his eyes to argue for her to continue the words died in her throat. The look on the man's face was silencing.

Papa waited for granny to go ahead of him out of the door before following her out. When the three got to the car he placed Jiel down next to granny who immediately started to bundle her up in the coat, zipping the front to keep the February cold out. "Get Jieleneril in the car and buckled up. I won't be long."

Granny stayed close to Jiel but looked up to her husband with a warning, "Bill Don't do too much now." That was all she left it at before following her husband's lead and putting their granddaughter in her booster seat.

Jiel didn't know what Papa Bill had said or did but a few days later when she was brought home her dad wasn't speaking to her mom and he had a dark bruise on his eye. It wasn't until the girl was in high school and Papa passed she found out he had outed her mother's adultery and beat her father.

That's how things were handled where she was from. You handled things yourself and you did em right.

Her mind returned to the present and looked at the dwarf who had taken her hand between hers and patted it. "Thank you." She smiled and put her other hand on top of his giving it a squeeze.

The dwarf's brows rose and he scoffed. "But I didn't even get to give you my priceless wisdom yet!" He pouted.

She fondly looked to the sky as the clouds had started to clear and the sun was peaking through as it set. "But you reminded me of a lesson my Papa taught me. You have to take care of things yourself sometimes and do the right thing even when other's don't want to."

She turned back to look into brown eyes, "I need a favor master dwarf."

A mischievous smile lit up his face as he put two and two together, "oh, aye! I know just the thing!"